Another great product from Boss that ,still to this day,is simply hard to beat.This was a revolution when it came out,and artists like Manu Chao still use this sympathetic sampler on a daily basis.The 1st good news was that youÂ´d get away with it at the blink of an eye.Very easy to use,and utterly reliable.Actually,itÂ´s so reliable,that it can be used as an FxÂ´s box,but even as a mastering-tool.Yes,youÂ´ve read that right;It actually out-does the mastering tool kit on my hard-disk-recorder,as I donÂ´t bounce or mixdown anymore,but mix it straight to a sample,because the sound output is just much better on the SP 303.The multi-FxÂ´s are outrageous and with resampling,you get fast what you want.There is however one huge downer:the memory-storage,which relies in very old fashioned 8,16,32 or 64mb smartmedia cards.That used to coincidide with the then technology of digital cameras,but has quickly surpassed its eficiency ever since;theyÂ´re hard to get and often expensive.I did have problems with the kinch-connections,theÂ´re a bit cheap,but overall this was and still is some damn fine piece of gear!

Rating: 4 out of 5
posted Friday-May-16-2008 at 04:25

dpb
a professional user
from oakland, ca
writes:

i gotta respond to this review saying anticon uses the sp-303. Alias(as well as lots of other people) uses this things for initial sampling of records and than dumps to an mpc. This is done for easy effect setups of the sample. but to say the sp303 is comparable to the mpc is ridiculous. its true that anything can be flipped, but if u can rock an sp-303, than you can a super producer with an mpc. plus i dont think you could sequence 4 or 5 synths with the sp-303. the sp is a cool box that is good to learn the basics of sampling, but it has no where near the sequencing or memory capacities of the mpc.

Rating: 2 out of 5
posted Saturday-Sep-01-2007 at 21:12

Tyler
a hobbyist user
from seattle, USA
writes:

Whoever is talking bad about the 303 just has what is called the napolean complex, and they feel like theyre not Dre if they dont run all akai mpc shit, and spend 3k on their hardware. Some of the best music i have ever heard was sampled out and cut with a 303. All of anticon... madlib, MF Doom. It really isn't the kind of sampler you have, it's YOU. I have mine teamed up with the older version: the sp202. They're both great and I will forever recommend them for any kind of music production. Most people bitch about not being able to export from their computer onto the card? wtf? just use the analog out/in dumbass. You have to master this machine for it to sound good. the people bitching only spent a few hours with it, got frustrated, and conclude that MPC 2500 will make it all better for them. UGHHHH.

Rating: 5 out of 5
posted Thursday-Jan-18-2007 at 14:28

Rapsputin
a part-time user
from Australia
writes:

first... "i have had this thing for about two years and cannot opperate it,can someone tell me how to connect it to a mixer please" = plug the rca outs of the dr sample into the input channel of your mixer. then " am having problems transferring wav files from my computer to the sampler. I have re-read the manual forward & back over the past 2 weeks & still to no avail" you need to name the fiels "SMPL0001.wav" the one being sample pad 1, so 1-8 is fine. if this does not work it is a problem with the smart medai card (i have smart media issues my current card only accepting sampels as 2, 4, 5 and 8).

to say the dr sample is not a professional, useful, and fun piece of musical equipment is a horrid crime against the good doctor. for starters lets look at current producers who create their finest works on a dr sample, Madlib for example produces the majority of his work using a Dr Sample, and i don't think anyone will deny him as being one of the most important hip hop producers of all time. also the greenthink and clouddead releases. classic underground hip hop created on, yes, the dr sample.

the sp303 is cheap, reliable and fun. basically plug a record player in, rip a loop. cut a break on your computer and then use the pattern sequencer to create a beat. now take that sample and apply one or several (through resampling) effects onto the sampler. look at how much these things cost? a few hundred bucks? yeah, go buy an MPC for 4 times that amount. i'm not saying the dr sample is perfect, actually, fuck that, I am. For the price you can't beat a dr sample for fun, usefulness and effects. For a more comprehensive report on the dr sample check